IEC voting for 67 minutes to honour Madiba
Staff of the Electoral Commission will join the rest of South Africa to make a change by spending their 67 minutes on several projects in all nine provinces.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Mr Mosotho Moepya, said he was happy that officials nationally will once more give generously including of their time despite the earnest preparations for the 2016 municipal elections currently underway.
Staff at national office will spend their 67 minutes this year at New BeginningZ in Centurion. It has been in operation since 2001 and runs a children’s home in Laudium, and a day-care and youth centre in the nearby Iterileng Informal Settlement. It originally focused on children living and working on the streets, but has since broadened its focus to abandoned babies and toddlers, including those living with HIV/AIDS. Its main home currently cares for 36 abandoned children of all races.
Support will include donations such as new or used goods – tables and chairs, sporting equipment, sewing equipment, board games, clothes, shoes and stationery – or donating their time on Friday, 17 July 2015. From 9am to 12pm a group of IEC volunteers will deliver the goods collected and assist to prepare snacks for the children, feed and play with them. They will also help with some maintenance of the home.
Staff at provincial offices will also give of their time to the following worthy causes:
- In the Eastern Cape, staff will be joining the Chris Hani Region to visit a destitute family in the Cofimvaba area on 10 and 17 July 2015. Assistance will include donating paint; blankets and a carpet; clothing including school uniforms; groceries including special formula for a disabled toddler; nappies, toiletries and the materials for as well assist to erect the fence around the vegetable garden.
- Staff at the Free State Office will visit Kids Care Trust, a shelter for the homeless in Bloemfontein on Saturday, 18 July 2015. The trust runs three projects, street work/outreach, a drop-in centre and a shelter/child and youth care centre. The shelter is registered to host 19 boys from the streets and they are provided with clothes and other necessities and educated. On Saturday, staff in the Free State will deliver the donated household goods and stationery to the shelter and spend some time with the children.
- The Provincial Office in KwaZulu-Natal and the Durban Metro will partner with the Office of the Premier to refurbish an Old Age Centre in Umgababa, south of Durban. They will also provide the elderly with food parcels and treat them to lunch on Thursday, 23 July 2015.
- In Limpopo, staff will donate their time to clean the premises of the Kheaphole Day Care Centre in the Greater Letaba Municipality. The centre houses 66 children from around Kheaphole village and is run by 4 full-time staff members. IEC staff will join the children and staff on Friday, 17 July 2015 at 10am to make their contribution.
- The North West Province will spend their time with the children and community members of the Rooigrond Informal Settlement in Mahikeng on Friday, 24 July 2015. From 10am the Provincial Team will cook and clean as well as do maintenance and repairs at the Rooigrond crèche. They will also donate clothes for the children.
- The Provincial Office in the Northern Cape will be visiting a rural school, Tau Diyarora Primary School at Jan Kempdorp on 31 July 2015 to hand out stationery, toiletries and toys to learners.
- One of the projects the Western Cape Office will support is the “You are the Best” conference in Mitchells Plain.
The conference is hosted by the Laphumilanga Youth Development Association, a non-profit organisation focusing on career development, research, public private partnerships initiatives and youth development. It will focus on motivating both Grade 12 learners and unemployed youth in taking their careers forward.
Former President Nelson Mandela voted for the first time in the 1994 elections, a moment that has remained etched in the hearts and minds of all South Africans. Let us participate in the 2016 municipal elections to strengthen our democracy and so remember his words on his 90th birthday, “It is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now”.
For media queries:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386
E-mail: spokesperson@elections.org.za.
